Security News > 2024 > July > The changes in the cyber threat landscape in the last 12 months

When it comes to the cyber threat landscape, change is the only constant: the inevitable interplay between cybercriminals and law enforcement agencies makes it inevitable.

Europol's recently released Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessment 2024 report covers events - law enforcement actions - that happened in the last 12 months and how the cyber threat landscape shifted because of them.

"The criminal landscape remains wide-ranging, comprising both lone actors and networks with various levels of expertise and capability. Some cybercriminals targeting the EU are EU-based, while others operate from abroad, concealing their illicit operations and funds in third countries," Europol says.

Cyber criminals incresingly offering and using malicious large language models for developing attack scripts and creating phishing emails, creating deepfakes, and more.

"The growing number of LLMs without prompt filtering which emerged recently is set to multiply and there will likely be more and more AI-generated advertisements luring in potential victims to online fraud," the organizations noted.

"AI being used to improve criminal methods and scripts is another possible scenario. Abuse of LLMs might allow criminals to overcome language barriers so that sex offenders are able to groom victims virtually in any language, impersonating peers and interacting in a way that the victim perceives as natural and believable."

News URL

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2024/07/23/cyber-threat-landscape-change/